RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Juniors
Filip Brankovic and
Koree Cotton combined to score 52 points to lead The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's basketball team past the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals 80-67 on Monday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Brankovic led the Vaqueros (6-9, 2-4 SLC) with a career-high 29 points with nine rebounds and three assists. Cotton scored 23 points with five rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals. Sophomore
Jaylen Washington chipped in with eight points and five assists.
The Cardinals (8-7, 3-3 SLC) 21 points from
Tahj Staveskie who added four assists.
Harold Woods scored 14 points with six rebounds while
Davion Bailey scored 11 points.
Brankovic set the tone for the Vaqueros in the opening minutes doing a little bit of everything as he knocked down a jumper, made a layup, hit a three-pointer and converted a pair of free throws. Brankovic scored 11 of the first 15 points for the Vaqueros to give them the 15-6 lead.
After the Cardinals got back-to-back layups from Woods and Lewis Rowe, redshirt senior
Jalen Ricks knocked down a pair of three-pointers to give UTRGV the 24-10 lead with 11:12 to play in the half.
Both teams exchanged baskets before a Cotton dunk kick started an 14-7 run to close out the half that pushed the Vaqueros lead to 44-29. Brankovic surpassed his previous career-high of 18 with 19 points in the first half.
The Cardinals came out of the locker room got back-to-back buckets from Rowe that forced a quick timeout, but Brankovic knocked down a jumper to settle the nerves. Later, Woods converted a three-point play, but it was Brankovic who answered with a three-pointer to push UTRGV's lead to 51-39.
The Cardinals answered with a 7-0 run before Brankovic converted a three-point play that made it 54-46 with 11:38 to play. UIW clawed their way to within 58-57after a 6-0 run, but Cotton got the energy back for the Vaqueros with a cutting layup and a knock down three-pointer to make it 63-57.
The Cardinals got a couple of three-pointers from Bailey and Staveskie to get within 69-63 but Cotton, who scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half, willed the Vaqueros to the finish line converting a three-point play and knocking down a three-pointer to put the game away.
The Vaqueros are back in action on Saturday when they visit East Texas A&M at 5 p.m. at The Fieldhouse in Commerce.
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